TY - JOUR

T1 - The legal impact of forensic medical life-threatening danger assessment conclusions in cases of violent offense

AU - Jakobsen, Lykke Schrøder

AU - Jacobsen, Christina

AU - Asmussen, Ida Helene

AU - Lynnerup, Niels

AU - Banner, Jytte

N1 - Copyright © 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

PY - 2021

Y1 - 2021

N2 - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to examine the association between the legal outcome for suspected perpetrators and the forensic life-threatening danger assessments conducted as part of the clinical forensic medical examinations of victims with penetrating injuries.METHOD: From the Danish Central Crime Register, we retrieved the legal outcomes for suspected perpetrators linked to victims with penetrating injuries in a six-year period and compared the proportional distribution of forensic life-threatening danger assessment conclusions - no life-threatening danger (NLD), could have been in life-threatening danger (CLD), and life-threatening danger (LD) - with the legal outcomes.RESULTS: 326 victims were related to at least one identified suspected perpetrator with a legal outcome. When the forensic life-threatening danger assessments were more severe, an increased proportion of cases resulted in formal charges and, subsequently, conviction, than when the forensic life-threatening danger assessments were less severe. The percentage point differences between NLD, CLD, and LD were almost equal.CONCLUSION: Our results indicate that the forensic life-threatening danger assessments are associated with the legal outcome, as both the proportion of cases with formal charges and the proportion of cases with a conviction increased with the severity of the forensic life-threatening danger assessment conclusions.

AB - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to examine the association between the legal outcome for suspected perpetrators and the forensic life-threatening danger assessments conducted as part of the clinical forensic medical examinations of victims with penetrating injuries.METHOD: From the Danish Central Crime Register, we retrieved the legal outcomes for suspected perpetrators linked to victims with penetrating injuries in a six-year period and compared the proportional distribution of forensic life-threatening danger assessment conclusions - no life-threatening danger (NLD), could have been in life-threatening danger (CLD), and life-threatening danger (LD) - with the legal outcomes.RESULTS: 326 victims were related to at least one identified suspected perpetrator with a legal outcome. When the forensic life-threatening danger assessments were more severe, an increased proportion of cases resulted in formal charges and, subsequently, conviction, than when the forensic life-threatening danger assessments were less severe. The percentage point differences between NLD, CLD, and LD were almost equal.CONCLUSION: Our results indicate that the forensic life-threatening danger assessments are associated with the legal outcome, as both the proportion of cases with formal charges and the proportion of cases with a conviction increased with the severity of the forensic life-threatening danger assessment conclusions.

KW - Clinical forensic medicine

KW - Legal outcome

KW - Life-threatening danger assessment

KW - Penetrating injury

KW - Severity

U2 - 10.1016/j.forsciint.2021.111034

DO - 10.1016/j.forsciint.2021.111034

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 34688185

VL - 329

JO - Forensic Science International

JF - Forensic Science International

SN - 0379-0738

M1 - 111034

ER -